Pop-Up Toy Apparatus with Various Sports Related Features and Indicia

ABSTRACT

A pop-up toy apparatus with various sports related features and indicia that includes a hollow casing with an internal three dimensional area, an exterior side surface area and a top surface opening with a protective outwardly opening lid and a sports related figure disposed within the internal three dimensional area. There is also a means for popping the sports related figure through the top surface opening with the protective outwardly opening lid, a means for playing a sports related song disposed within the internal three dimensional area and indicia that is associated with a sport, a professional sport team or an amateur sport team disposed on the exterior side surface area. The pop-up toy apparatus is also known to those skilled in the art as a Jack-In-The-Box™ toy.

BACKGROUND

This application relates generally to a pop-up toy apparatus with various sports related features and indicia. More specifically, this application relates to a Jack-In-The-Box™ type toy that has a sports related pop-up figure, a means for playing a sports related song and indicia that is associated with a sport, a professional sport team or an amateur sport team, such as a college sport team.

SUMMARY

People are passionate about sports. This is true whether it be about the sport itself, such as NASCAR, a professional sports team such as the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys or a college sports team such as the USC Trojans or the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Because of this, people are very proud about items that display indicia of their respective favorite sports teams. These items can include clothing, headwear, flags, sporting equipment and even toys. These people also like to expose their children to their respective favorite sports or sports teams and are often not shy (and are even adamant) about having their children express their own passion for their respective favorite sport or sport team. Because of this, toys with features and indicia that reflect a person's respective favorite sports or sports teams to be used by their child, would be very popular in the marketplace. Toys that utilize tangible figures or shapes, audio expressions such as songs and (of course) the specific indicia of a person's respective favorite sport or sport teams for their child to use and play with, will be very popular, particularly when considering the sports crazed world that we live in today.

This application discloses a Jack-In-The-Box™ toy that has a figure, such as a person or an animal, real or mythical, a song and indicia that is associated with a sport, a professional sport team or an amateur sport team, such as a particular college sport team.

In particular, this application discloses a pop-up toy apparatus to be played by a user that comprises a hollow casing with an internal three dimensional area, an exterior side surface area and a top surface opening with a protective outwardly opening lid. The pop-up toy apparatus also has a sports related figure disposed within the internal three dimensional area, a means for projecting the sports related figure through the top surface opening past the protective outwardly opening lid, a sound generator for playing a sports related song disposed within the internal three dimensional area and indicia that is associated with a sport, a professional sport team or an amateur sport team disposed on the exterior side surface area. The hollow casing may be conventionally configured generally as a parallelepiped, or alternatively may be externally configured as a sports item, such as a ball or any other article associated with that sport associated with the apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings, when considered in connection with the following description, are presented for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected.

FIG. 1 is an environmental perspective view of a first embodiment of a pop-up toy apparatus with various sports related features and indicia.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the pop-up toy apparatus with a sports related figure extended through the top surface opening with a protective outwardly opening lid.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the present pop-up toy apparatus with various sports related features and indicia is described with reference to several illustrative embodiments described herein, it should be clear that the present invention should not be limited to such embodiments. Therefore, the description of the embodiments provided herein is illustrative of the present invention and should not limit the scope of the invention as claimed. In addition, while following description references for a pop-up toy apparatus with various sports related features and indicia, it will be appreciated that the invention may be any a pop-up toy apparatus with various sports related features and indicia.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of a pop-up toy apparatus 10 with various sports related features, such as a sports related FIG. 60 and indicia 70 being used by a user U is shown. This type of pop-up toy apparatus with various sports related features and indicia 10 is similar to a Jack-In-The Box™ type apparatus that is so well-known to those skilled in the related art. The box or enclosure 20 and the inner workings for projecting the concealed figure and for playing music may be functionally identical to those of conventional Jack-In-The Box™ type toys. Of course, modern electronic apparatus may be substituted for these where feasible. The pop-up toy apparatus 10 is typically used by a child but can be used by anyone or any user U. The pop-up toy apparatus 10 illustrated depicts a football player popping-up out of the pop-up toy apparatus 10, with a Miami Dolphins football team indicia 70 being displayed on the front of the pop-up toy apparatus 10. As discussed later, the pop-up toy apparatus 10 is not limited to this particular sports related FIG. 60 and indicia 70.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the pop-up toy apparatus 110 with various sports related features and indicia comprises a hollow casing enclosing an internal chamber or three dimensional area 120, an exterior side surface area 130 and a top surface opening 140 with a protective outwardly opening lid 150. The pop-up toy apparatus 10 also has a sports related FIG. 160 disposed within the hollow casing with an internal three dimensional area 120, a projector disposed to project the sports related FIG. 160 through the top surface opening 140 which bears the protective outwardly opening lid 150, a sound generator disposed to play a sports related song disposed within the hollow casing with an internal three dimensional area 120 and indicia 170 that is associated with a sport, a professional sport team or an amateur sport team disposed on the exterior side surface area 130. The means for projecting the sports related FIG. 160 may comprise a mechanical spring arrangement of the type traditionally used in Jack-In-The Box™ toys, or any other suitable arrangement, such as those based on springs, on pneumatic pressure, or on electromechanical action for example. The means for playing a sports related song (not shown) may be for example a mechanical arrangement identical to that provided in traditional Jack-In-The Box™ toys. Alternatively, an electronic sound generator and associated circuitry (neither shown) of known type could be provided.

As is also illustrated in FIG. 2, the sports related FIG. 160 of this particular pop-up toy apparatus 110, is a football player (specifically a quarterback). The sports related FIG. 160 can also be a mascot, a logo, a piece of sports equipment, a piece of sports machinery or an individual athlete other than the quarterback as depicted (none of these options is shown). An example of a mascot that could be used as a sports related FIG. 160 with the pop-up toy apparatus 110 could be the San Diego Chicken or the USC Trojan Horse. Examples of logos that could be substituted for or utilized with the sports related FIG. 160 are the Nike “Swish” and the Chicago Bears orange and blue “C”, while examples of pieces of sports equipment that could play the role of the sports related FIG. 160 could also include a football helmet or basketball hoop. An example of a piece of sports machinery that could be substituted for the sports related FIG. 160 could include a race car while examples of individual athletes that could be used in place of the sports related FIG. 160 could include a soccer player kicking a ball or a baseball player swinging a bat. None of these examples is shown. The pop-up toy apparatus 110 is not limited to having a hollow casing with an internal three dimensional area 120 in the shape of a football. The hollow casing defining the internal three dimensional area 120 can also be in the shape of a baseball, a basketball, a soccer ball, a golf ball, a bowling ball, a hockey puck and other sports related features that are well-known to those skilled in the art (none shown).

The pop-up toy apparatus 110 has a projector disposed to project the sports related FIG. 160 through the top surface opening 140. The projector may comprise an upwardly thrusting spring-loaded mechanism 180, which more specifically may be a spring 190 with a platform 100. The pop-up toy apparatus 110 is not limited to this particular projector, as there are others that are well-known to those who are skilled in the art. The projector can be configured to be operated at the end of the sports related song being played, or alternatively, to operate at random times throughout the playing of the song. This may be accomplished in the same way that projection of the figurine of traditional Jack-In-The Box™ toys, for example.

The pop-up toy apparatus 110 also has a sound generator disposed to play a sports related song, which (as illustrated in FIG. 2) is a prerecorded song playing device 115 and a speaker 125. The pop-up toy apparatus 10 is not limited to this particular means for playing a sports related song, as there are others that could be used that are well-known to those that are skilled in the art. The sound generator is activated by the user U manually turning a crank 130. Once the crank 130 is turned and the sound generator is activated, the projector is also activated and the sports related FIG. 160 is projected through the top surface opening 140 and the protectively outwardly opening lid 150.

A suitable interlock to time the song to projection of the sports related FIG. 160 is provided, such as that traditionally used in Jack-In-The Box™ type toys. Of course, should electronic sound generators be employed, a mechanically operated switch (not shown) may be incorporated to interlock operating of the sound generator with mechanical action of the projector device.

The sports related song may be a fight song associated with a sports team, a fight song associated with a sport, a theme song associated with a sports team or a theme song associated with a sport. Examples would be the “Fighting Irish” song from the University of Notre Dame and the “Take me out to the ball game” song written about baseball.

The pop-up toy apparatus 10 has indicia 170 that are disposed on its exterior side surface area 130. The indicia 70 can be associated with a sport, a professional sport team or an amateur sport team. The sports can include baseball, football, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, racing, boating and other sports not mentioned. The professional sport team can also include teams from these sports and can include for example indicia thematically related to the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics, the New England Patriots, the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Capitals, the Detroit Red Wings and other professional sports teams that are well-known. Amateur sports teams used in place of professional teams can include the USC Trojan football team, the Kansas Jay Hawk basketball team, the University of Miami baseball team, the University of Virginia soccer team, the Boston University hockey team and other amateur sports teams that are well-known to those skilled in the art.

While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. 

1. A pop-up toy apparatus with various sports related symbols and sports related indicia, to be played by a user, comprising: a hollow casing with an internal 3-dimensional area, an exterior side surface area and a top surface opening with a protective outwardly opening lid, wherein said indicia is located on said exterior side surface area; a sports related symbol disposed within said internal 3-dimensional area; a projector disposed to project said sports related symbol through said top surface opening; and, a sound generator for playing a sports related song disposed within said internal three dimensional area.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said hollow casing has an external configuration of any one of the group consisting of a football, a baseball, a basketball, a soccer ball, a golf ball, a bowling ball and a hockey puck.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sports related symbol is any one of the group consisting of a mascot, a logo, a piece of sports equipment, a piece of sports machinery and an individual athlete.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said projector comprises an upwardly thrusting spring-loaded mechanism.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said projector is disposed to operate at the end of said sports related song being played.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said projector is disposed to operate randomly during playing of the sports related song being played.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sound generator comprises a prerecorded song playing device.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a crank which is operable by being turned manually, and said sound generator and said projector are activated by said crank.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sports related song is one of the group consisting of a fight song associated with a sports team, a fight song associated with a sport, a theme song associated with a sports team and a theme song associated with a sport.
 10. A Jack-In-The Box™ type apparatus with various sports related features and indicia, comprising: a hollow casing with an internal 3-dimensional area, an exterior side surface area and a top surface opening having a protective outwardly opening lid; a sports related figure disposed within said internal 3-dimensional area; a projector disposed to project said sports related figure through said top surface opening; a sound generator disposed to play a sports related song disposed within said internal three dimensional area; and indicia that is associated with a sport, a professional sport team or an amateur sport team, disposed on said exterior side surface area.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said hollow casing has external configuration of one of the group consisting of a football, a baseball, a basketball, a soccer ball, a golf ball, a bowling ball and a hockey puck.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said sports related figure is one of the group consisting of a mascot, a logo, a piece of sports equipment, a piece of sports machinery and an individual athlete.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein projector comprises an upwardly thrusting spring-loaded mechanism.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said projector is disposed to operate at the end of said sports related song being played.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said projector operates randomly throughout playing of said sports related song.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said sound generator comprises a prerecorded song playing device.
 17. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said apparatus comprises a crank which is operable by being turned manually, and said sound generator and said projector are activated by said crank.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said sports related song is a fight song associated with one of the group consisting of a sports team, a fight song associated with a sport, a theme song associated with a sports team and a theme song associated with a sport.
 19. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said indicia is disposed on said exterior side surface area and is associated with one of the group consisting of a sport, a professional sport team and an amateur sport team. 